Most of us have already concluded that come January, we are going to start losing those pesky 15 pounds, quit smoking, do more volunteer work, and reduce our debt. While all of these are certainly all worthy causes, you can also take the potential downtime this January to make improvements to both your store and your business process.

Here are some suggestions from various Volusion staffers:

Jennifer S.
“Solidify your design by making it more consistent through your site. If you already have a consistent design, try taking it a step further into your advertising and just add some little things to make your store feel more like an experience.”

Jeri B.
“Maintain a simplified color palette throughout your entire site. It will add a harmonious look and feel to your site, and make it appear more professional and easy to navigate.”

Jon B.
Get familiar with the many design tools on the web. Here are just a few I suggest:
http://www.modernlifeisrubbish.co.uk Modern Design Tips
http://www.dafont.com Free fonts that won’t lock up Photoshop
http://www.colorschemer.com Give your site color harmony
http://www.resizr.com A free way to resize your photos
http://www.istockphoto.com Stock photos for $1

Sandra N.
“Execute more mini projects. Divide a main project into smaller projects with a smaller scope so that each “mini” project can be easily completed in a shorter amount of time. This leads to a better sense of accomplishment, don’t you think?”

Michelle B.
“Make it more of a point to get feedback from family and friends to evaluate your site regularly. Your goal could be to ask someone for feedback once a week, five times a month, or any schedule that will work for you. Start with a specific area (design, navigation, product descriptions, images, etc.) and ask for comments in that specific area. This will allow you to focus on one area at a time, and create a specific “To-Do” List for that section before moving on to the next.”

Kate P.
“Add to your credibility as an online company in the eyes of potential customers. Have a clear return policy/money back guarantee posted, and make sure that customers can readily find it before they order. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you were duped by a company because they hid their policies or made it nearly impossible for you to return items.”

AmyLynn K.
“Make it a point to improve your on-page SEO. A lot of people just put sizes into their product descriptions, but is that really describing the product? You could describe its various sizes, what it’s for, and so much more about it. This in and of itself will make search engine spiders like your site a whole lot more.”

Stacie L.
“If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to start running online ads. It’s a great way to gain exposure and possible sales, especially if your site isn’t ranking well in search engines. A few quick tips: direct campaigns to landing pages to better target traffic, monitor campaigns often and write ad text that is relevant to what the searcher is looking for. Always keep in mind that those reaching your site have already searched, so don’t make them search more after clicking on your ad. See the Search Engine Marketing section for more tips on setting up online ad campaigns.”

Adam H.
“Off page SEO is huge for improving your search engine rankings. Create a blog to link back to your store. Write articles or ask bloggers to review your products. Making a point this year to increase your backlinks can pay huge dividends in the end for your business.”

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
“Remember to see your store in the context of the web. When your customers look for your products, they don’t just see your store. They probably found you on Google, a comparison shopping site, or an affiliate link, and they may have heard about you in a forum or other community site. Participating in online communities will help you understand and reach out to your customers to gain their loyalty.”

Volusion wishes all of our merchants and readers a happy and prosperous 2008.

–Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: Start Online Business, Start Online Store, Sell Online, Ecommerce Tips, Online Store Tips, Online Business Tips, Volusion

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Did the socks your mother-in-law gave you this year just not do it for you? Tired of yet another tie or goofy red and green sweater that will just end up in the back of your closet? The social networking blog Mashable created a list of over 5000 Resources to Do Just About Anything Online. It might not be the iPhone you were wanting, but it is chock full of great

applications you may have not known about. Some include free blog hosting services, podcasting tools, Firefox plug-ins for designers, and much more.

If you have a little time (well, a lot of time), go through these applications. They may give you some ideas for how to better reach out to your audience while not breaking the bank.

–Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: Free Online Tools, Mashable, Social Networking Blog, Social Networking Tools, volusion

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All that is left under the tree are pine needles. Mom is diligently whipping up her famous post holiday concoction composed of turkey, stuffing, peas, a can of mushroom soup, and whatever else was leftover from dinner. You have already vowed to lose ten pounds (well, after all the holiday cookies are gone). The holidays are over, but do your big sales numbers have to be over as well?

Maintaining momentum after the holidays takes initiative. Hopefully you took advantage of the increase in traffic by gearing your store around gift-giving, and now you will have to push towards either a New Years theme or back to your look before the holiday season took off. Here are some other steps for maintaining momentum after the holidays:

1.) Make it easy to redeem gift cards, and offer gift card users upsell items. How often have you received a gift card and only spent the exact amount on the card? Gift card users will often take out their credit cards to purchase the exact items they want, so take advantage of the upsell opportunities.

2.) Advertise a post holiday sale. This could mean changing up your search engine marketing campaign. Microsoft’s adCenter blog offers some good tips for changing your post-holiday SEM campaigns.

3.) Change the verbage on your site to better address your audience. Very few people are looking for gifts after the holidays. Should your site address these issues, or should you be highlighting your newest and latest sale items? Do you have a year-end closeout? Don’t be lazy–what is your post-holiday angle?

4.) Keep track of what worked for the year. How did your SEM campaigns go? What were your best and worst selling products? How did any split testing pan out?

5.) Take advantage of big holiday traffic. Did you get more email addresses for your newsletter list? Don’t let those holiday customers forget about your great sales, useful advice, or helpful customer service. Sending targeted newsletters in the next few months can mean the difference between having one-time holiday customers and loyal customers for life.

6.) While working on your closeouts, figure out what the next step is for 2008. This could mean asking your customers what they are wanting in the future. Does your site need a new design? Are there new products they are looking for in the upcoming year? Did they have a positive experience this holiday season? Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.

The 2007 holiday season saw record sales figures, and planning and preparation can bring those great sales numbers well into 2008.

–Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: 2007 Holiday Online, 2007 Holiday Sales Record, Holiday Sales Statistics, Online Store Tips, sell online, volusion

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Although Ron’s niche audience made his site a strong candidate for the web, his previous licensed solution presented problems for him early on. “We left our previous cart was because with a licensed cart, you have the software pretty much just dropped in your lap and they say ‘Go.’ Setup was a nightmare and modifications were the same. With Volusion, a hosted solution, setup was a breeze. Support and documentation are great. Something that was lacking with our previous cart.”

Ron and company took advantage of the features now currently available in Volusion’s Version 5. “Our upgrade was seamless. I didn’t really see the changes until I started to dig deeper. I am very impressed with the new version. From exports to shipping, our workflow has improved and saves us a lot of time.” Now that triathletesports.com is on Version 5, the staff uses the Volusion Admin Area to print FedEx labels for all orders. “It makes for a very productive shipping department.”

What advice does Ron have for other etailers out there? “Make your site look as professional as possible. Keep it clean and simple. For small business owners, your number one goal should be to make yourself look like one of the big retailers out there and have good customer service to back it up.”

–Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: Hosted Ecommerce Solution, Hosted Online Store, Hosted Shopping Cart, sell online, Triathlete Sports, volusion

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Monday, December 10th marked $881 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day on record! This number was up 33 percent versus the previous year’s high of $666.9 million.

For more information on Cyber Monday, Black Friday and overall ecommerce holiday sales, see the updated version of “Holiday Sales: When Will Your Site See its Peak Day?.”

For more information on this year’s record breaker, view ComScore’s press release “Online Holiday Retail Spending Surpasses $22 Billion, Up 18 Percent Versus Year Ago, As Retailers Prepare for Final Week of Pre-Christmas Shopping.”

-Stacie Leonard, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

Technorati Tags: 2007 ecommerce holiday sales, 2007 ecommerce sales, 2007 Holiday Online, 2007 online holiday sales, 2007 online sales

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